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A transit rider snapped this photo of a TTC employee who appears to be napping at a fare-collection kiosks. (MICHAEL LARMON)

By Jennifer YangDenise BalkissoonStaff Reporters

Fri., Jan. 22, 2010

With the click of a camera and a tweet on the Internet, one sleeping TTC worker has unleashed a torrent of fresh anger over Toronto’s troubled transit system.

What began as a funny photograph posted on Twitter quickly turned into a lightning rod for transit riders frustrated with the TTC.

It all began when rider Jason Wieler was passing through McCowan LRT station and spotted a mustachioed ticket collector sprawled back in his chair, his mouth agape, apparently snoozing while on the job.

Wieler snapped a photo, posted it on Twitpic, and the incriminating photo quickly went viral. Reactions were initially amused but grew rapidly bitter, as irritated transit riders took offence to the TTC worker’s inability to stay awake and collect fares – even as Torontonians continue to smart over the recent fare hike.

“You have a job to be done, you don’t sleep on the job,” said Sandeep Parmar, a 40-year-old TTC rider who passes through McCowan Station daily. “You don’t sleep and let people walk by without paying when they are raising the fares.”

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But this isn’t the first time a TTC employee has been caught dozing while on the clock. Since Wieler’s photo began making the rounds, more pictures of sleepy TTC workers have come out of the woodwork. Earlier this month, Spacing magazine also posted photos of a TTC worker asleep in the driver’s seat of an idling TTC utility van.

On Friday, transit and union officials both launched into damage control, and TTC spokesperson Brad Ross said tersely that at least two of the recently-reported incidents are under review.

However, the outcome of the TTC investigation – and penalties issued, if any – are unlikely to come to light, because personnel matters are regarded as confidential between employee and employer.

Local 113 of the Amalgamated Transit Union also issued a short news release Friday, admonishing transit users for not waking up the McCowan collector. Many TTC collectors are senior employees who work in collectors booths because they have health issues or injuries.

“Whatever the outcome of the enquiry, it is very discouraging that the picture taker and, apparently, other customers, made no attempt to determine if there was anything wrong with this TTC employee,” union president Bob Kinnear said in the statement, adding that a simple knock on the glass would have determined whether the employee was sleeping or suffering from a medical emergency. “The reports that passengers were laughing at him as they passed by the booth makes this even more disturbing.”

But such statements did little to stem the online tide of criticism, as hundreds of comments flooded news websites, blogs and Twitter accounts.

A sympathetic few defended the soporific TTC workers, pointing out that they were probably hard-working family men, caught in a moment of exhaustion during a late night shift.

By Friday night someone created a faux Twitter account for the TTC snoozer, under the name TTCsleeper he’s already got nearly a hundred followers.

Others shared their own tales of TTC woe and, on thestar.com, riders complained about everything from TTC employees sleeping, reading or watching DVDs to more serious allegations of dangerous driving, verbal rudeness or even assault. Just this past Wednesday, TTC commissioner Adam Giambrone announced a new customer service panel to review how employees interact with the public.

But the majority of online commenters were bitter, sneering that just weeks after a controversial fare hike, unionized employees with good benefits couldn’t bother to stay awake and make change for equally hard-working customers.

“We have a completely dysfunctional public transportation system,” said Star commenter raylee 67, complaining of service delays, old technology and poor organizational structure. “The whole system is so broken that I don't even think it can be fixed ...

“I would love to see TTC losing the monopoly status for public transportation so some private providers can come in and compete with it. At least then, I get to choose.”

And even those who chose to stay neutral in the fray couldn’t resist throwing in their two cents.

“LOL this sleeping TTC employee has our city up in arms,” said Twitter user pumpkin patch. “Who knew one picture could encompass all of our transit system’s problems, for realz.”

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